Do you play an instrument?Or do you plan on picking one up in the foreseeable future?If so, tell us what you play / intend to play and maybe show us some pictures of your baby.

And major thumbs up to those of you who also provide us with a recording.

Personally, I play the guitar, and whilst I play all styles and all types (concert, western, electric, slide, lapsteel).I currently focus on the electric guitar and try to learn me some delta blues.

Current gear:I have some more back home but to university I only brought two things with me:My main guitar is an Ibanez Darkstone (DN-500) which, despite having been built with metal in mind, is a super versatile guitar which allows me to cover everything from smooth jazz to death metal, I can make her wail, I can make her scream, I can make her mournd and hand me a slide to go with her and she will sing like nothing you ever heard before. Sh's a tad heavy but I wouldn't trade her in for anything.

That's her (Well, one of her sisters...)PHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cubXZlZHVjYXRpb24uY29tL2Fzc2V0cy9wcm9kdWN0cy82MDgzN19sLmpwZyIgYWx0PSJpbWFnZSIvPjwvcD4=

And my current amp is the amp Frank Zappa himself used to play everything (well not THE amp).It's been used by Eric Clapton, B.B. King and basically every major guitarist has played one.Yes, I am talking about the almighty Pignose 7-100.It's battery powered but DAMN it's a fine amp, made for everything from smooth soloing to hard rock and if you crank it you can even convince it to give you some dirty punk sounds.

I've been planning on picking up piano for the last few months but I'm too busy getting through my first year of teaching. So hopefully in the summer.

I feel sorry for people who don't play an instrument. It's a great hobby, something you can always get better at and it's good for the soul.There are few better feelings than creating a fantastic song from scratch or mastering one of your favourites.

This is the bass I got for christmas :D It's a FleaBass, they got discontinued in 2011, and before the company went under, they made 150 special models, which were left completely white, to inspire the player to make their own art for it

This is the bass I got for christmas :D It's a FleaBass, they got discontinued in 2011, and before the company went under, they made 150 special models, which were left completely white, to inspire the player to make their own art for it

I remember you: You asked for suggestions on what to do to that Flea bass of yours. I like the results.Also major props for the stingray.

Ah yes! The marker comes off without much hassle, so I'm gonna keep mixing it up :D That's quite an old picture of it though, it's got a whole lot more on it now ^_^ I asked my friend to add in some references around the outer layer when he was doodling, since I can't draw for shit

We've got: Jake the Dog, Soap MacTavish(MW2), The Pixar Lamp, Slender Man, Every portal character, a few subtle MLP references and many, many more ^_^

We've also got "Easter Egg" written on the obstructed space under the neck ^_^

I remember you: You asked for suggestions on what to do to that Flea bass of yours. I like the results.Also major props for the stingray.

Ah yes! The marker comes off without much hassle, so I'm gonna keep mixing it up :D That's quite an old picture of it though, it's got a whole lot more on it now ^_^ I asked my friend to add in some references around the outer layer when he was doodling, since I can't draw for shit

We've got: Jake the Dog, Soap MacTavish(MW2), The Pixar Lamp, Slender Man, Every portal character, a few subtle MLP references and many, many more ^_^

We've also got "Easter Egg" written on the obstructed space under the neck ^_^

So you used marker to doodle on the guitar?Which basically means that you followed my suggestion?Hurray for me, self-congratulatory posts are the best.

thesilentman:I've played violin ever since I was ten, and I've played piano ever since I was 5. I'm not particularly good with either of them, but I do somewhat okay.

...

Oh, this is a guitar and bass thread? I'll see myself out now...

This is an instrument thread so everyone is welcome.We just have a lot of g&b posts, but please, stay here with us.

i did once consider taking up the guitar but (and no offense to you guitar guys) it always came off a bit douchie in a "i'm gonna play this guitar and steal your girlfriend" kind of way. when i get around to it i plan to get some violin lessons since if that fails i can still walk around with the case and look like an old school ganster

Violin & viola... though as far as keyboards are concerned, piano, organ & harpsichord, and before anyone jumps on me, playing techniques for piano & harpsichord are quite different if you want to do it well... -_-

Oh, and singer (in the manner of musical theatre, that is to say, that's what my voice is best suited for not what I prefer singing, so I was perpetually 'mis-used' as an oratorio soloist... :/ )

I play a number of instruments. Guitar, bass, mandolin, and drums. I also dabble in keyboard and the concertina (though I can only play a few songs). With so many instruments, I'll just run through the commonly used.

For my guitars, I have a Gretsch Electromatic with single-coil pickups and tremelo.

The last one my local shop got when they discontinued the model for humbucker and thinner bodies (which kills much of the thick body of the tone) was sparkly gray. It is ugly, but it's the tone I wanted.PHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly9zdGF0aWMubXVzaWNpYW5zZnJpZW5kLmNvbS9kZXJpdmF0ZXMvMTgvMDAxLzI5NC84MjcvRFYwMTZfSnBnX0xhcmdlXzUxNzczMC44ODVfc2lsdmVyX3NwYXJrbGUuanBnIiBhbHQ9ImltYWdlIi8+PC9wPg==

Then, I also have Tim Mahoney's signature PRS SE.

Again, not crazy about the color, but the tone this thing has compared to the price you can pick it up for is phenomenal.PHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly9hbHRvbXVzaWMuY29tL3Nob3AvaW1hZ2VzL3Byb2R1Y3QvMTEzMDQ4LWQ3YTE1OWNlMGJmYzllOTJhMGY4NzE4YTQ1MTk2OGVkLmpwZyIgYWx0PSJpbWFnZSIvPjwvcD4=

My electric bass is a Sterling Music Man SB14.

The blue bomber is great for slapping and picking.PHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly81NTQwLndlYnBvc3N5c3RlbS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL3Byb2R1Y3QvU0IxNC1QQi0xLmpwZyIgYWx0PSJpbWFnZSIvPjwvcD4=

Here is the main scheme, though this is an older image. I have since cleaned up the foam blocking (now it's black to blend).PHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vc3Bob3Rvcy1hLnh4LmZiY2RuLm5ldC9ocGhvdG9zLWFzaDMvNTU2NTU4XzEwMTAwMzI4NjUzODMyMTc1XzE1OTA1NTI1ODhfbi5qcGciIGFsdD0iaW1hZ2UiLz48L3A+

I don't have an image of the back, but the back has a white Space Invader.PHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly9pbWFnZXMud2lraWEuY29tL2RyYWdvbnZhbGUvaW1hZ2VzL2UvZTgvU3BhY2VfaW52YWRlci5qcGciIGFsdD0iaW1hZ2UiLz48L3A+

Edit: For some reason, every time I put an apostrophe in the spoiler, it came back with a "#token#" insert. No contractions for the Escapist, apparently.

thesilentman:I've played violin ever since I was ten, and I've played piano ever since I was 5. I'm not particularly good with either of them, but I do somewhat okay.

...

Oh, this is a guitar and bass thread? I'll see myself out now...

Hey man, if I were to ever form a band, I'd want somebody who plays the violin and/or piano. Mostly because I absolutely love the dichotomy they can produce in the midst of a heavily distorted guitar riff, and it's a lot more versatile than the boring combination of guitar-guitar-bass-drums.

Also, I'd want to go from a light, classical tune on one song to a squealing, screaming, heavy metal song right together on an album, but that's beside the point, because I have visions of making an album that's basically a deconstruction of modern metalcore.

OT: I used to have two guitars, but since my mother moved out of state I don't know what's become of my stratocaster.

Currently I've got a left-handed Epiphone SG, G-310 series, downtuned to Drop C tuning. No points for guessing what I normally play on it, but I occasionally switch out the distortion and go for lighter alterna-rock too. I can play The Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?", Akira Yamaoka's "Promise", "My Own Summer" and "Pink Maggit" by the Deftones, "In Exile" by Thrice, and Brand New's "Jesus", and generally just chug around with what I think sounds neat while I'm playing since I just do it for fun.

This is what my guitar looks like, for those wondering.PHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cuZ2VhcjRtdXNpYy5jb20vbWVkaWEvMTcxOTYvNjAwL3ByZXZpZXcuanBnIiBhbHQ9ImltYWdlIi8+PC9wPg==

I got a Line 6 Spider IV amp for Christmas, it's absolutely beautiful. Bit of a monster for the apartment I'm living in, though.

I play the violin and have been for 16 years, and at the moment a friend of mine is teaching me cello and I'm pretty decent at it. Right now she's teaching me Tenor clef and it makes my brain hurt...just...UGH. D:

I played Upright Bass back in high school for about one year since our conductor in her INFINITE WISDOM decided t pick music where you needed a Bass and we didn't have one, so someone else in my section and I quickly learned it. It was fun, and I kinda miss it, but I like violin better. I like it so much I have two.

One is what I've had since I started playing, his name is Sir Scruffy, and the other, which I play more often, is a better violin and his name is Octavo.

I play bass, drums, electric guitar and piano technically. That being said, I have only been routinely playing bass and drums especially.

I own a four string, American Highway One Fender Jazz Bass as my main non-percussion instrument.

Drum kits are a bit more complicated to type out:

- A purple Pearl Vision Series kit, except I only use the 10" rack tom and 14" floor tom (Not the 12" rack tom, which is where my ride cymbal sits.).- 14" Sabian AAX Studio High-Hats- 10" Sabian AA Splash- 16" Sabian AA Medium Thin Crash (I'm not a fan of this one, so when it cracks I'm going to try something else in its place.)- 17" Sabian AAX X-Plosion Crash- 18" Sabian AAX X-Plosion Fast Crash (This is probably my favourite cymbal in my current set-up.)- 20" Sabian AA Medium Ride- I also have a 12" Sabian Splash coming in soon (I got it free from the Sabian holiday rebate thing.), but I can't remember what it is exactly.- DW Double-Kick Pedal- A cowbell (Obviously the most important part of my drum kit.)

I've played the drums for a long time in my teens to early 20s, was in bands, did gigs etc. But it's a hard instrument to keep when you're moving and it's also hard to practice without bothering people, so eventually when I wasn't in any band anymore I stopped playing, sold the drumkit, and that's it.

Some years ago I decided to pick up the guitar. I was thinking about learning a more portable instrument, and the fun I had with Guitar Hero sealed the deal for me. Last year I was curious and bought a bass to learn some basics. I still play it now and then, but I prefer the guitar. I have 2 (electric) guitars and a Yamaha bass.

If "play" means "Are you able to produce something that sometimes is not entirely horrible?", then Yes, several.

I used to play/learn electric organ, so I have a somewhat decent understanding of how to operate instruments with keys. That was ages ago, though, so any kind of "skill" is long gone. I have an old and very basic midi keyboard lying around that every once in a while I hook up to Reason, but very seldomly. The other instrument with keys in the household is one of exactly those:

My Melodica, about 40 years oldPHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly9pbWczLmV0c3lzdGF0aWMuY29tLzAwMC8wLzYwNTM4MTkvaWxfZnVsbHhmdWxsLjE4MzczMTYzNS5qcGciIGFsdD0iaW1hZ2UiLz48L3A+

The "baby" would be my Ibanez Western guitar that has been with me for 20 years now. Well, given that number, I tremendously suck at playing it...Oh well. Looks kinda like this:

...but with floral inlays on the fretboard and the wood has aged quite nicely.

The other "baby" is my Tokai Les Paul.

...minus the pickguard, currently. But I'm actually not too crazy about it, and, since I'm more of a fingerpicking[1] guy, my attempts in making -y'know- electric guitar music usually get really strange.[2]

Plus a late 1960ies Aria concert guitar and a piece of halfways broken no-name crap that looks like a Fender Stratocaster

No but I did once owned a harmonica well a toy one that is (it was still metal thought). I admit I would like to buy and played the ocarina but that kind of more of an LoZ:OoT fad sort of thing. I'm only interested in that instrument because of that game.

This is what I play currently, an Ibanez Jet King named Dante. I am looking for an upgrade though. Not a bad bass by any means, just not powerful or growly enough for what I like/want to doPHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly9zdGF0aWMubXVzaWNpYW5zZnJpZW5kLmNvbS9kZXJpdmF0ZXMvMTgvMDAxLzMxNC8xMTkvRFYwMTZfSnBnX0xhcmdlXzU4MDUxNC4wMDVfcmVkLmpwZyIgYWx0PSJpbWFnZSIvPjwvcD4=

And this is my euphonium named Thor. Some people call them baritone horns but the two are different, if only slightly. Think of them as tiny tubas that sound more like mellowed out trombonesPHA+PGltZyBzcmM9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cud3JpZ2h0c211c2ljLmNvbS5hdS9pbWFnZXMvZXVwaG9uaXVtLmpwZyIgYWx0PSJpbWFnZSIvPjwvcD4=